Pet Pools: How Can They Rehabilitate Your Injured Dog?
If your beloved dog seriously injures a leg while jumping or running, you may wonder if your pet will ever walk and run again normally. To help pets learn how to cope with life-changing injuries, a number of veterinary hospitals in the United States now use special pet pools to rehabilitate animals. Pet pools provide similar benefits as human pools, which use the power of water to strengthen and rebuild weakened muscles and improve poor reflexes. Here's how a pet pool rehabilitates your dog.
Improves Muscle Strength
Like humans, dogs can experience sprains and strains in the tissues of their legs, ankles and hips. Although tissue sprains and strains are treatable with traditional pet therapy, some dogs may not respond well to it, especially if they experience pain and discomfort. Because of the pain and discomfort, your dog may not want to participate in the therapy sessions.
A pet pool typically features an underwater treadmill that your dog stands on with the assistance of a trained therapist. But unlike a regular treadmill, which requires your pet to place weight on its injured leg, the water in the pool supports the dog's weight. Your pet has a chance to strengthen the muscles of the injured leg without experiencing pain or becoming exhausted.
Some vet hospitals use whirlpools in their pet pools. Whirlpools help wounds and injuries heal by softening and removing dead skin cells and infection. The pool maintains a constant warm temperature that soothes your pet's tired muscles, which helps fight inflammation and swelling.
Builds Confidence
Pet pools not only help your dog's injury heal, it also builds confidence. If your pet became depressed because he or she can't run or play without pain, pet pools may help your dog overcome these issues. The pools are designed to bring back your dog's independence so that he or she can return to a normal life.
One of the things you might do before your dog enters pet pool therapy is consult with a veterinarian about your dog's emotional changes. The veterinarian may add other treatments to the therapy sessions, such as playtime with other dogs. The socialization your dog experiences with other injured pets may help him or her feel better about pet pool therapy.
For more information about pet pool therapy and other treatments, consult with a veterinarian, like the ones at Pittsburgh Spay & Vaccination Clinic, today. The sooner you get your beloved pet on the road to recovery, the better he or she may feel.
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